Dr. Carol Lally Shields is the Associate Director and Attending Surgeon on the Ocular Oncology Service at Wills Eye Institute. She is Professor of Ophthalmology at Thomas Jefferson University and consultant at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.

Doctor Shields graduated from University of Pittsburgh Medical School with highest honors. She is a recipient of the American Academy of Ophthalmology Honor Award and the only female ophthalmologist in the world to receive the prestigious Donders Medal for excellence in ophthalmology from the Dutch Ophthalmologic Society in 2003.

Dr. Shields maintains a rewarding professional life managing patients with cancer of the eye. Her special interests include pediatric eye cancer such as retinoblastoma as well as adult eye cancer such as intraocular melanoma, conjunctival tumors and orbital tumors. She has contributed extensively in the field of retinoblastoma with research regarding risks for tumor spread as well as clinical advancements for tumor treatment. Dr. Shields has pioneered the use of newer, naturally moving orbital implants after enucleation of the eye.

Her innovative ideas have allowed many children to have their lives saved and in many cases maintain vision in an eye that had been afflicted with cancer. She is a proponent of early treatment for intraocular melanoma and has been able to save many eyes with this disease using radiotherapy, resection and thermotherapy. Dr. Shields’ extensive knowledge of “cutting edge” ocular technology has propelled the Oncology Service to the forefront of treatment options for our patients.

Dr. Carol Shields has contributed over 700 articles in the medical literature regarding eye cancer. She has published nearly 200 chapters in various textbooks and has co-authored five textbooks on ocular tumors. She serves on the editorial board of several ophthalmic journals and has lectured extensively giving over 375 scientific and named lectures.

In addition to her nationally recognized practice, she provides care for over 50 new international patients each year from many countries in South America, Europe, Asia and Africa.